(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector. More particularly the connector is designed for ease of separation from a mating connector in a high pressure environment. The present invention has specific use on a receptacle affixed to a torpedo when it is necessary to disconnect the attached cable connection underwater.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
The existing underwater cable connection to a submarine launched torpedo has had reliability problems due to its design. To a great extent this is due to either the short circuiting or non-contact between the cable and the weapon's cable receptacle. In the prior art the cable used a plug to fit in the receptacle's socket. The difficulty with a common plug/socket connection is that sea pressure tends to hold the connection together and the greater the depth, the greater the exterior holding force. This force can be overcome by the use of a lanyard, as the weapon launcher system has more than adequate force to overcome the force on the cable end tending to hold the cable end plug together with the weapon's socket receptacle. Identifying a location to anchor a lanyard is a design problem that causes difficulty with a swimout launch due to the force that holds the connection together. The problem is that a swimout launch slowly accelerates and at the start of this acceleration it has a relatively small forward thrust. This relatively small thrust that is used to move the weapon is ineffective to adequately separate the cable connection. Prior to the separation various problems such as the weapon being held in place by the cable, the weapon propeller cavitating, overspeeding, and shutting down may be encountered.